This review of Obsidian's brand new title raises a few points that would probably annoy the fanbase at the Obsidian Forums. The review says that the game is nothing more than what would probably be an expansion pack of KOTOR if it was released solely on the PC due to its lack of improvements on the technical side of the game, stating that all of the flaws that were present in Bioware's original title are present in its 'sequel' as well with only a few minor improvements to the interface.

Is it churlish to think less of Sith Lords because it's called KOTOR II when it shouldn't be? If this had been released solely as a PC game instead of debuting on a console, odds are good that it would have been labeled as an expansion pack rather than a sequel, and simply labeled KOTOR: The Sith Lords. All the hallmarks of an expansion pack are there, after all: new content using the same graphics engine and battle system, created as a side project by another developer while the original creators work on a real follow-up.

Since it's numbered as a proper sequel, though, the lack of improvement on some of the fundamentals on KOTOR I is a little disheartening. It really is exactly the same shell that covered the first game's story, with the same bugs (I noticed my party still had a tendency to warp and skip around the map at times, and the pathfinding AI isn't any better than you remember it) and the same graphics engine that's like watching a car crash. When they were known as Black Isle, Obsidian's strength was always more toward improved content rather than improved technology, so it's to be expected ... but don't come into Sith Lords expecting many of the technical problems that plagued the first game to be fixed.

The review does however go on to note that the story is much better this time, with superior characters, plot, moral choices and that the story is a lot less predictable than the original. The overall score is 7.5.

Many people learned with KOTOR I to take the bad with the good, a rule that'll serve them well when playing through The Sith Lords. The bad is still there and no better than ever, but the good shines through more clearly than before. Net shift: Light Side gain.